The Six Shifts Podcast Episode 1: Setting the Stage, Grades 3-5
Posted on: March 15, 2024
In this podcast, Katie Egan Cunningham, Jan Burkins, and Kari Yates discuss the background and origin of their book, Shifting the Balance 3-5: 6 Ways to Bring the Science of Reading into the Upper Elementary Classroom. This much-awaited sequel to the K-2 book introduces six more shifts for elementary teachers. In this conversation, Katie, Jan, and Kari talk about the vulnerability and riskiness involved with writing the book and the six commitments they made to the work and to each other. They also explore how the K-2 and the 3-5 books connect and how the shifts can help educators navigate the competing tensions of literacy instruction. Learn more about all twelve shifts at TheSixShifts.com.
Meet the Authors
Jan Burkins
Dr. Jan Burkins was an elementary classroom teacher for seven years and a literacy coach for seven years. She has worked as a part-time assistant professor, a district literacy leader, and is currently a fulltime writer and consultant. Jan’s current work includes speaking engagements, presentations at conferences, and professional learning support for school districts.
Kari Yates
Kari Yates is an author, speaker, consultant and staff developer with a passion for helping busy literacy educators thrive. Kari has a passion for helping teachers, coaches, and administrators find the inspiration, courage, and resources to nurture joyful, and authentic literacy learning, one next-step at a time.
Katie Egan Cunningham
Katie Egan Cunningham has twenty years of experience as an educator in many different roles to support students and teachers including classroom teacher, literacy specialist, literacy consultant, and teacher educator. Katie is an Associate Professor of Literacy and English Education at Manhattanville College and her research and teaching focus on student and teacher happiness, literacy methods, new technologies, critical literacies, and children’s literature.